That child who shivered in fear
clutching the cross in her chain
As her parents threw abuses at each other
That child who woke up in fear
clutching the pillow near her head
As the sounds grew louder and louder
That child who stared in fear
As her mother looped a yellow rope
round and round her neck
That child who stayed awake in fear
even as her little eyes went heavy with sleep
as she needs to be awake for her mother
lest she ties the yellow rope round and round again
That child who blacked out
at every school assembly
because she was never fed by anyone
That child who dared not to smile
as she was told her smile was the worst
That child was me!
That introvert teenager who fainted again and again
As she never ate anything on time
That thin lone girl who was mocked again and again
As she never attained the beauty standards
That wide-eyed girl who ran up the stairs sobbing
As she was told she will never be good enough
That girl was me!
That naive young girl whose heart was shattered into pieces
Because she loved too much
That stupid young girl who cried and cried in the shower
Because she was forgotten
That silly young girl who was threatened and stalked for years
Because she never said anything in her defence
That girl was me!
That young mother who was cursed and abused
because she was ill throughout her pregnancy
because she threw up blood
because she was reduced to bones
because her child cried
because her child didn’t latch
because her child slept less
because she was not good enough a mother
That mother was me!
That woman who was always forgotten and blamed
That woman who never understood office politics
That woman who was told she was not enough
That woman who cried and then brushed the tears aside
That woman whose children loved her to bits
That woman who still held on
That woman who still smiled
That woman who still loved fiercely
That woman who still wrote vigorously
That woman who still believed in herself
That woman who still loved herself
That woman who loved life
That woman was also me!
